NAICS 445310 · California overview

Beer, Wine & Liquor Stores in Del Norte County

Del Norte County had 4 Liquor Stores establishments in 2023, ranking 43 of 45 California counties and accounting for 0.1% of the statewide total.

Establishments (2023)
4
Rank 43 of 45 counties
Employees
30
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$1.2M
All establishments
Per 10k residents
1.5
26,410 residents

More recent reading

BLS QCEW, 2026Q1

The figures above are County Business Patterns, which carries the size distribution but runs about two years behind. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes quarterly, so this is the same industry roughly 3 years later. The two count different universes, Census counts establishments with paid employees in the March pay period and BLS counts worksites covered by unemployment insurance during the quarter, so the numbers are not directly comparable and either can be the larger.

Establishments
3
2026Q1
Employment
21
Quarter-end level
Average weekly wage
$830
Per covered worker
Quarterly trend
0.0%
2025Q2 to 2026Q1
Concentration vs the national averageBLS, 2026Q1

2.36 location quotient. Liquor Stores employment in Del Norte County is about 2.4 times more concentrated than in the United States as a whole.

Computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not derived here. Above 1.0 means the industry is a larger share of local employment than of national employment.

Establishment trend

Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net growth of 0.0% since 2020.

YearEstablishmentsChange
20204n/a
202140
202240
202340

How this market compares

Del Norte County against every other county in California on the same measure. The median excludes places under 2,000 residents, where per-capita figures are arithmetically true but analytically useless.

Densely served1.5 per 10,000 residents, against a state median of 0.9

Well above the state median for this industry. A crowded market: expect established competitors and price pressure, but also a deeper pool of businesses to buy.

Vs state median
+62%
Businesses per resident
Rank by count
#43
of 45 counties
Rank by density
#6
of 45 ranked
Since 2020
0%
Change in establishments

Density compares beer, wine & liquor stores provision per resident. It does not measure revenue, profitability or whether a market is worth entering.

Business size mix

Del Norte is more consolidated than California as a whole: fewer micro-operators and a larger share of businesses with real headcount. Fewer targets, but the ones that exist are more likely to be financeable.

Share of establishmentsDel NorteCaliforniaDifference
Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer0.0%74.8%-74.8%
5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target0.0%23.6%-23.6%
10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing0.0%7.6%-7.6%

What acquirers look at

The California ABC license is often the single most valuable asset, and transfer runs its own 60 to 90 day timeline independent of the deal.

Cities in Del Norte

The figures above cover the county as a whole. These are the places within it.

Other industries in Del Norte

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2026Q1). Quarterly establishment counts and employment for employers covered by unemployment insurance. Retrieved 2026-09-08.